WOLVES boss Mick McCarthy has delivered a pop at John Toshack after issuing a stern ‘hands-off’ notice to Premiership big guns over Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.

The brilliant 21-year-old goalkeeper is being heavily linked with a move to the top flight next month, with Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton ready to slap in big-money bids.

Hennessey lost his place in the Wales team to in-form Hull stopper Boaz Myhill against Denmark last month, and it is touch and go whether he will regain his spot for the crunch World Cup qualifiers in the spring.

Toshack wants his Welsh stars playing regular football and recently stated he knows there is interest in Hennessey and a move “could be in the pipeline” if he doesn’t play regularly at Molineux.

But McCarthy hit out in a Birmingham paper by saying: “I run my own affairs. We have opinions, but it is not always wise to air them in public.

“I tend not to do it, but unfortunately others do.”

He continued: “If a club rings up about Wayne then I will tell them where to go.

“The owner, Steve Morgan, will tell them where to go, and the chief executive, Jez Moxey, will tell them where to go.

“Wayne is our goalkeeper. He is going nowhere.”

Despite Hennessey’s brilliance for Wales in daunting countries like Russia and Germany, McCarthy contentiously axed him from Wolves’ Championship line-up.

McCarthy’s decision came after Hennessey scored an own goal in a 3-0 defeat against Reading, with Carl Ikeme surprisingly picked instead.

The move fuelled speculation that Hennessey would join the growing band of Welsh young guns in the Premiership, following Aaron Ramsey, Gareth Bale and Chris Gunter.

But McCarthy emphasised Hennessey had signed a new deal with Wolves which kept him tied to the Molineux promotion hopefuls until the summer of 2012.

Hennessey has returned to the Wolves goal for the last three games because of an injury to Ikeme.

McCarthy insisted the break had done the Welsh star the world of good, saying: “I left Wayne out after Reading because I thought he looked jaded.

“Wayne himself would admit that. Things weren’t happening for him. I wouldn’t say he was particularly out of form, but he had almost 18 months of pretty constant football for club and country.

“Sometimes, maybe we expect too much of our young players.

“In his first season, Wayne was voted Wolves Player of the Year, got into the PFA team, was excellent in testing internationals for Wales and got lots of plaudits.

“Sometimes it’s a question of can he keep that level of consistency going? There are occasions when players need a break and I believe that time had arrived for Wayne.

“Unfortunately, footballers, journalists, supporters, pundits and probably managers and players think there is something wrong when someone is not in the team.

“That is often not the case. There might have been a reason Wayne was out of the side at the time and there was, which is the one I have explained.

“But I didn’t say Wayne was a bad goalkeeper, or that I didn't like him.

“He took the decision like a man, reacted well, has got back in the team and performed terrifically well. Next, he has to earn the right to remain in the team.”

However, Toshack believes a January move may still be on the cards for Hennessey, with Spurs boss Harry Redknapp and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger among his big admirers.

“Wayne has been outstanding for us, against teams like the Czech Republic, Germany and Russia, and there is no doubt he is ready to go up to the highest level,” said Toshack.

“Maybe if he is not performing regularly, there could be a move for him in the pipeline.”

Of the battle to be the Wales No1, Toshack said: “In my first three years as Wales manager, I used six keepers.

“Without being disrespectful to the others, who were good professionals, Hennessey and Myhill are the ideal situation for a manager in such a key area of the field.

“Boaz is a terrific character and doing very well playing in the Premier League with Hull. He deserved his chance in Denmark and was excellent that night.

“But Wayne has been doing nothing wrong with Wales and Boaz understands the situation.

“He has taken up the challenge and is pushing Wayne. It’s up to the pair of them and a nice position for us because we can sit back and let them battle it out between them themselves.”

Hennessey himself is shrugging off the speculation linking him with a move, insisting he is very much committed to the Wolves cause.

“Of course, it was frustrating to lose my Wolves place, but I just worked hard in training and had to be ready when my chance came again,” he said.

“You obviously read in the newspapers and hear people talking about scouts from Premiership clubs watching you and it’s nice to know that.

“But I’m very much concentrating on Wolves, I’ve still got a lot to learn.

“I’ve got plenty of time to get to the Premiership and hopefully that’s going to be with Wolves.”

It seems inevitable, though, that the resolve of McCarthy and co will be tested to the full in January when the £6m plus bids come in for Hennessey.